Jefferson Airplane co-founder Marty Balin dead at 76

29 September 2018

Newsdesk

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Marty Balin, a co-founder of the legendary rock band Jefferson Airplane has died at the age of 76, his representative said on Friday.

The family said Friday: "Marty's fans describe him as having had a substantial impact for the better of the world: 'One of the greatest voices of all time, a writer of songs that will never fade, and founder of the quintessential San Francisco band of the sixties.' His music is known for being the soundtrack to all of life's monumental moments."

Another co-founder, Paul Kantner, died in January 2016, the same month the Recording Academy named Jefferson Airplane one of its annual Lifetime Achievement Award recipients at the Grammys.

When Balin quit the group. “I thought everybody [was] kind of an asshole,” he said earlier this year. “It was a period of cocaine then…everybody took cocaine.

With songs like Somebody To Love and Volunteers, the San Francisco group helped pioneer the psychedelic sound.They formed in 1965 when folk artist Balin decided to create a rock group in response to the Beatles-led British Invasion.

Kantner, a college drop out who was already a familiar face on the San Francisco circuit, was the first person he approached.

"He was the first guy I picked for the band and he was the first guy who taught me how to roll a joint," Balin wrote on Facebook after learning his death.